HOUSTON (November 11, 2012)--The first official memorial to honor Texans who fought in the Vietnam War should be ready for a Veterans Day dedication next year on the Texas Capitol grounds in Austin.
The $1.5 million bronze statue is being funded by a $500,000 state grant and private donations.
Its creator, New Mexico Western sculptor Robert "Duke" Sundt, is best known in Texas for the over-sized bronze longhorn outside the Frank Erwin Center on the University of Texas campus.
The memorial, which portrays five U.S. soldiers huddled in the ruins of an ancient temple, weapons at the ready and eyes peering into the distance, will join previous Capitol memorials to veterans of the Texas Revolution, Civil War, World War I, World War II and the Korean War.
